Canada’s border agency says it protects staff who face work-related threats
Global News
The CBSA was responding to an officer who said the agency abandoned him amid an Indian disinformation campaign.
Canada’s border agency said it was committed to protecting its staff from threats and harassment — if the incidents occur “at work or as a direct result of their duties.”
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) was responding to an officer’s allegations that the department had abandoned him when India used him in a disinformation campaign.
In a lawsuit filed in Ottawa last week, Sandeep Singh Sidhu alleged the Indian government had falsely branded him a terrorist to hit back at Canada amid a diplomatic row.
After Canada accused India of assassinating a B.C. Sikh leader in 2023, India’s media shot back that Sidhu was wanted for a fatal 2020 terrorist attack, and was employed by Ottawa.
The news reports sourced the allegations to India’s NIA counter-terrorism police, and used a photo of Sidhu he had given only to the Indian government when he applied for a travel visa.
The Indian press coverage alleged that Canada’s employment of a supposed terrorist in a national security job was “hypocrisy” and undermined Ottawa’s criticism of New Delhi.
A border officer for two decades, Sidhu said he has never been involved in terrorism, and was used by India because he has a common Sikh name and a visible, uniformed job in Canada’s national security apparatus.
As a result of the allegations, Sidhu faced threats from supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, including an X post that showed his Abbotsford, B.C., home and said, “Go and kill him.”
